The Classics Club: Completed!

Five years ago, I decided to join an online challenge called The Classics Club, the goal of which was to read fifty classic novels in a five-year period. For the purposes of this list, I defined a classic as any book written mid-century or earlier. I always enjoyed reading classics in school, but I went almost my entire twenties without reading anything older than a decade or two, outside of university assignments.

I didn’t really expect to finish this, or even still be blogging by this time, but here we are. I actually read the fiftieth book about half a year ago, but I decided to carry on to the five-year mark, ending with 56 novels read and reviewed. I’m so glad I took part in this. I can’t say I was very active in the community, but having that little goal in the distance really did spur me on to pick up more classics, and after five years of doing that it’s permanently changed my reading. It’s no longer a conscious decision to pick up a classic novel; they’re just naturally a part of my to-read queue now.

I’m pretty happy with the list, despite completely dropping the ball on reading at least one Shakespeare a year. I’ve discovered so many new authors during this time and returned to a few old favourites that I’d forgotten. I loved The Chrysalids in high school, but I didn’t even realize John Wyndham had written anything else. I finally read some Mark Twain, Vladimir Nabokov, Graham Greene, and John Steinbeck, and now I’m excited to read the rest of their work. I hadn’t even heard of Jerome K. Jerome, and Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) was one of my favourite novels I read during this.

I started with quite a different list and swapped out novels as I went. Here are the novels I wanted to read originally but didn’t get to:

The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare (1623)

The Tempest by William Shakespeare (1623)

King John by William Shakespeare (1623)

Othello by William Shakespeare (1623)

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)

Walden by Henry David Thoreau (1854)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (1888)

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (1920)

Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre: The Best of H. P. Lovecraft by H. P. Lovecraft (1921 – 1936)

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11 thoughts on “The Classics Club: Completed!”

Congrats Rob. I’ve enjoyed your reviews and enjoyed comparing where we overlapped. I re-upped after completing my original 50 a few books back. Whether you re-up with the challenge or not, I’m sure we’ll continue to see each other’s review. Cheers.

You are right about Nabokov, (I have his biography, Speak Memory, which is considered a great non fiction book, and he has many books to enjoy).
Thanks for replying to my comments.
I am glad that I have found your blog. I enjoy your reviews and I am getting a lot of book ideas.
I have some books reviewed here, https://silviacachia.wordpress.com/book-lists/, and it is funny to hear that you won the Back to the Classics (that’s the only challenge I am doing since 2015, but I am considering this one you have just completed).
See you around (I have subscribed to the blog), and have a great week.

I didn’t know about Speak Memory, but I’ve been itching to read more author autobiographies, so I’ll be seeking that out for sure.

Back to the Classics is a fun one as well. It was a nice surprise to win it last year. These and a Foodie Reads challenge are the only ones I’m doing right now, as they fit my habits the best. I don’t want too many rules getting in the way of my reading.